I might be a big car convert. #KiaSorento

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I don't consider myself a “big car” person. Buying my 5-seater hatchback was a struggle, and Jamie is still driving his little 2-seater!

I never thought I'd want a vehicle that can seat seven, thanks to a third row that disappears down into the floor of the cargo area when not needed.

I never thought I'd want one of those fancy, looks like it's from a spaceship dashboard computers, either.

And then Kia dropped off a fully-loaded 2014 Sorento for me to check out.
It's pretty swanky, and makes me want to upgrade in a BIG way.
This just might be the SUV that converts me! I've always driven smaller cars because I had a 100+ mile a day commute. That's now only about 5 miles roundtrip to the train station, so it isn't nearly as much of an issue, and with Jamie building our teardrop camping trailer, we need something with towing capacity.

The nice thing with the Sorento? I'm still getting killer gas mileage, with over 20 MPG in most use cases! And the towing capacity is up to 3500 lbs on most models, which will get the teardrop where we're going without a second thought.

That spaceship-like console I didn't think I needed or wanted? Yeah. It's pretty much awesome.
I love that I can listen to my own music from my phone through Bluetooth, and it's crazy the amount of information that's available on that computer. I'm pretty sure it has more processing power than the laptop I'm writing this on!

I have a semi-irrational fear of two things when it comes to driving: Hitting something in my blind spot, and plastic bags flying up and covering my windshield (but that's for another post)

The Sorento can't do anything about the flying grocery bags of death, but it CAN help with the blind spot and give me peace of mind there.
Handy little flashing sensors alert you when someone's in your blind spot! This is the sort of thing that wasn't available when I got my last car, so I'm totally obsessed with it now and get annoyed every time my car doesn't warn me!

The Sorento rides in style; the leather upholstery, seat warmers, and I'm in LOVE with the gigantic sunroof! I often feel like big SUV-type vehicles can get really dark and depressing in the back seats. The Sorento's giant sun/moonroof opens all the way back to the middle row, which Max loved as much as I do! It's a whole new view for a kid who is still in a carseat and never sits up front.

So. Much Space.

We didn't need to use the third row, since it's just the three of us, but in a couple of years when Max has friends who needs rides places? This would be the perfect solution! The third row folds flat down into the floor of the cargo area in back, so you don't have to pick seating *or* storage… you can have both! (Just not at the same time.)
Also, one of Max's tests of a vehicle: Is it snoozeworthy? Yup.
So there you go! The Kia Sorento that just might change my mind about SUVs. It's fun to drive, a good looking car (I don't usually like bigger cars in red, but this looks GOOD!) and lastly, when you hit the button to turn the car off (keyless ignition FTW!) it bids you adieu! So polite!